LIFESTYLE NEWS - At four years old, a child's world should be full of crayons, playgrounds, and fairy tales. For Dianty and Nqobimpi, it has become a world of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and sterile hospital rooms.
Their fight for life casts a light on a critical need: a second chance, which can only come from a matching stem cell donor.
A donor for Dianty
Hailing from Randfontein, Dianty is a bright and joyful four-year-old whose smile can light up any room. Yet, behind her cheerful spirit lies a harrowing health battle. It began last year with inexplicable fevers and stomach pains, initially dismissed as a sinus issue and later as growing pains.
When Dianty suddenly lost the ability to walk, her mother, Claudine, knew something was terribly wrong.
After she was admitted to the hospital, blood tests revealed the devastating truth: Dianty had leukaemia. Chemotherapy began immediately.
“The ups and downs were relentless,” Claudine explains. Despite initial progress, Dianty relapsed just after her fourth birthday this year, forcing her family back to square one.
The search for a stem cell donor has been fraught with disappointment. With no suitable match found within her family, Dianty’s hope now rests on the public registry. “You never think it will happen to you until it does,” says Claudine. “I encourage every single person to go and do the cheek swab... You can save the life of a little child. You can give them a second chance.”
Nqobimpi needs a match
Nqobimpi from Pretoria is facing a similarly terrifying reality. Her journey began with persistent nosebleeds and terrifying episodes of vomiting blood, which left her weak and pale.
Her mother rushed her to a clinic, which led to a referral and eventually a diagnosis of T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (T-Cell ALL).
Expressing the shock that rocked their family, her mother shares, “I wasn’t aware children could get cancer.” Nqobimpi was pulled out of crèche, and her life became a cycle of month-long hospital stays for treatment.
The strain has rippled through their family, affecting her siblings' ability to focus at school as they worry constantly about their baby sister.
All Nqobimpi wants is to return home and play with her dolls, a simple childhood pleasure now dependent on finding a selfless stranger willing to register as a donor.
Nqobimpi is from Pretoria.
The power to save a life
“For children like Dianty and Nqobimpi, a stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their only hope for a cure,” highlights Palesa Mokomele, Head of Community Engagement and Communications at DKMS Africa. Every new person who registers brings fresh hope to them and the many other patients waiting for a lifeline.”
Register today on this link.
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